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  • Essay / Alice Munro and the Social Roles of Women

    Most of Alice Munro's main characters are women, whose social and inner lives are described in great detail by their author. All of these women tend to give the reader insight into what it means to be a woman in a predominantly male-ruled society. They seem important in society because of the domestic role they seem to play in their lives. However, Munro tends to depict women who are not essential to their work and who, in some way, can discover themselves and express meaningful love. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay Munro depicts women in his stories who seem important primarily because they are necessary to men. They are “made” to be housewives. In "A Good Wife's Love", Munro describes Bud's mother as a typical housewife, who achieves a "serene severity". She seems to have experience running her household, becoming the sole one to control her children as if she were essential to maintaining order. However, women also seem to evolve around what society expects of them: raising their children. This change is illustrated by Iona's behavior in "My Mother's Dream" when she is caring for Jill's baby. The woman who was at first simple and boring in the house becomes very important: "Iona had gone from the most insignificant person to the most important person in the house." She seems to have become a person essential to maintaining peace and order: "she was the one who stood between those who lived there and the constant discordance", just like Bud's mother. It brings order and is necessary for the proper functioning of the house. This importance of women in society and specifically in the domestic sphere is also caused by the necessity that they represent for men. This kind of necessity is what Munro describes in “Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage”: men who cannot live without women to take care of them. It begins with Mr. McCauley not being able to stand being abandoned by Johanna: "He woke up alone in the house, with no smell of coffee or breakfast coming from the kitchen." Here, the absence of Johanna influencing his life is emphasized by the use of coma right after the word "alone", which marks a pause in the reader's reading. He no longer has anyone to take care of him, and the things he was used to have disappeared along with Johanna. Munro also writes: "He belonged to a generation in which there were men who were said to not even be able to boil water, and he was one of them. » Although indirectly, Munro describes women as being necessary to men who cannot cook for themselves, let alone clean. Men need women to take care of them, as Munro attempts to show when she depicts women taking on stereotypical domestic roles. However, while women are shown to be necessary in the domestic realm, they are portrayed by the author as unnecessary, or at least less important. , in terms of professionalism. Indeed, Munro describes them as being only good around the house, incapable of doing anything other than tending to domestic chores. Describing a character in “A Good Wife’s Love,” she writes, “he believed his mother had no experience or authority outside their home.” Jimmy's mother's status is tied to her house, and she can do nothing but guard that house. However, Munro also writes: "To his great surprise, she.